Amid speculation Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves plans to axe the two-child benefit cap in the upcoming November Budget, many UK families could soon get a welcome income boost.
But according to Money Saving Expert (MSE) those with three or more kids aren’t the only ones who miss out — and it’s all down to a simple error in your child benefit application.
In the latest edition of its newsletter, the Martin Lewis-founded site shared six things all parents need to know about child benefit, claiming households across the country are losing both money and a boost to their state pension.
Child benefit is available for anyone with parental responsibilities for children under 16 or up to 20 in full-time education, with the maximum available coming in at £26.50 a week for your first-born.
Under current rules, you get a little less for any additional children, and there’s also a ‘high income charge’ if one parent earns more than £60,000 a year, with those on £80,000 or more having to repay 100% of the entitlement through tax.
Because of this, some higher earners decide not to apply — which MSE says is often a big ‘mistake’.
How much is child benefit?
The Child Benefit rates for 2025/26 are:
- For a first-born child: £26.05 a week
- For additional children: £17.25 a week per child
‘When you register, it doesn’t just trigger the payment, it’s a gateway to other things,’ the consumer service notes, urging people to sign up for child benefit even if they earn over the threshold.
For one, it ensures your child will – in the vast majority of cases – get a National Insurance (NI) number automatically once they turn 16, rather than having to manually apply themselves.
But it’s also because it allows you to build National Insurance credits even if you’re not working (or making enough to contribute), meaning ‘it’s worth registering but then opting out of receiving the benefit, as opposed to just not registering.’
And high earner or not, it’s vital you don’t put the ‘wrong’ parent on the application — a common error that an estimated 200,000 couples have fallen foul of.
MSE explains: ‘The person who puts in the child benefit application is deemed as the primary applicant, and they are the one that gets the NI years (which you need to qualify for the full state pension).
‘So if one of you doesn’t work or earns under £125 a week, that person should be the applicant, to ensure you get the NI credit you wouldn’t have otherwise.’
According to the site, this potential pension boost could add up to £10,000s over the years, and save you the hassle and cost of having to buy back ‘missed’ years further down the line.
Ideally, the lower-earning parent should apply in the first place. Don’t worry if you’ve already done it the other way around, though; you can change your details with HMRC and transfer the credits over on the Government’s website, in some cases even getting them backdated.
One MSE reader who’d claimed child benefit for 10 years while his wife wasn’t contributing to NI was able to transfer the credits to her, boosting her pension by around £3,000 a year and saving the £7,000 it would have cost them to make voluntary contributions.
It’s an easy fix that could make a big difference to your later life.
